The best racing I’ve ever done, whether inshore or offshore, has been in one-design fleets. However, in the offshore realm it’s been two decades since the last successful one-design class was launched.
Conventional wisdom holds that smaller offshore racing yachts need to be relatively heavy to be competitive under IRC. Many solo and double-handed sailors are therefore deprived of the joy of racing faster planing yachts, even if today’s successful 30-36 footers are capable of surfing at speeds in the high teens.
Happily the Sun Fast 30 breaks the mould in this respect – it’s 800kg (22%) lighter than the popular Sun Fast 3300, yet has almost the same sail area upwind and only 5% less downwind. A strict one-design rule is intended to allow close competition, while keeping upfront and long-term costs in check. It’s also the world’s first recyclable composite production boat – impressive given
